Lisa Johnson has eight years experience working in the music industry and has been a passionate connoisseur of music since her first Sharon, Lois, and Bram record. A testament to the impact of music in her life is the fact that she learned to spell the word “chipmunk” from the theme song to The Chipmunks: “We’re the chipmunks…C-H-I-P-M-U-N-K….”

In high school Lisa became enamoured of the independent music scene after seeing Weeping Tile (Sarah Harmer’s former band) perform at MacMaster University in her home town of Hamilton. From there it was a chain reaction, and before long she was road-tripping to Toronto — or wherever the next gig took her — to quell her insatiable thirst for more live music. When she hit university, one of the very first things she did was begin volunteering for Imprint, the University of Waterloo newspaper. Lisa worked for Imprint, one of Canada’s top university papers, in various capacities for the next five years: as Proofreader, Features Editor, Arts Editor, Assistant Editor-in-Chief, and Arts Editor again. During this time she also wrote (mostly concert/album reviews and interviews/features), and took concert photographs.

Before completing university, Lisa was asked to be the Head Editor and Writer of a new web site called IndieVoice.com — Toronto’s independent music resource. Her role there lasted the lifespan of the web site (three years). During that time Lisa not only assigned and edited stories/reviews/interviews/features, but she continued to write them herself.

At around the same time, Lisa began to volunteer for Ember Swift and her independent record label Few’ll Ignite Sound. After having reviewed and interviewed Ember for both Imprint and IndieVoice, Lisa and Ember had a casual acquaintanceship. After noticing a typo in the liner notes to one of Ember’s albums, Lisa politely (or boldly, however you want to look at it) informed Ember of the mistake, jokingly adding, “If you ever need a good editor….” Well, Ember did, and she called Lisa up. The result of that first “job” was that Ember dug Lisa’s work, her anal-retentiveness, and her passion. Lisa became a regular volunteer for Few’ll Ignite Sound. After graduating from university and a brief stint as a corporate whore, Lisa became Few’ll Ignite Sound’s first official employee. Their working relationship lasted until 2005 when Few'll Ignite Sound effectively moved away and Lisa struck out on her own with Unsung Communications.

Lisa also has the following work experience, both from during and after university:

• Licensing Agent for Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency
• Assistant Production Editor at Prentice Hall/Pearson Education publishing house
• Public Communications Officer for Canadian Food Inspection Agency (federal government)
• English Tutor for English-as-a-second-language students at Centennial College
• Corporate Communications Specialist for a faceless corporation
• Freelance editing for various Toronto magazines

Lisa had never held a job, volunteer or otherwise, that was not in the field of writing/editing/communications or in the music industry. Lisa’s company, Unsung Communications, is the ultimate melding of her two greatest passions and is a dream come true for her. After years of freelance writing, editing, promotions, communications, and road management for various Toronto-based musical artists (for little or no pay), Lisa decided to legitimize it and see if she couldn’t turn her talents and passions into a sustainable career.

And for more on who Lisa wishes she were, click here.